state facilities, also things like state offices, toll bridges. >> reporter: public school education by law is guaranteed 48% of the state's general fund, whereas corrections gets about 7%. on average, the state and federal government allocate almost 9,000 per pupil in california, less than half of what the state of new york spends on its students. but getting more money for schools often means asking local voters to increase their own taxes. for example, the city of berkeley raises more than $3,000 per pupil in extra funds. other school districts have had similar success in the bay area, schools in poorer districts, though, don't have parents who can afford that. >> affluent communities are counting on taxes. affluent communities are passing local bonds to improve the quality of their school facilities. but these are not options available to a lot of middle class and blue collar communities. >> reporter: where budgets are tight and dollars are short, consider this. nearly 50% of inmates nationwide are high school dropouts. in san francisco, dana king, cbs 5. >>> last year, the state cut fu